ESPN straw poll brings the NBA MVP race into focus for bettors

If you’re looking for an edge in NBA MVP betting, ESPN just dropped one in the form of a straw poll conducted from Sunday to Tuesday.

One hundred league insiders cast their ballots on who they would vote for, and Jayson Tatum came out as the early favorite with 47 first-place votes and 759 total points. He was followed by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who received 36 first-place votes, and Luka Doncic with 10 first-place votes.

The top three matched For The Win’s latest MVP ladder, though there are slight deviations after that. Stephen Curry, who was recently ruled out for several weeks with a shoulder injury, was fourth in the poll and Nikola Jokic was fifth.

The top three also matches MVP odds at BetMGM where Tatum leads the way at +250, followed by Antetokounmpo at +300 and Doncic at +350.

There’s a steep drop from there, though. Joel Embiid, who was is 10th in both the poll and FTW’s rankings, has the next best odds at +900. Jokic is fifth at +1400.

Six through nine of ESPN’s poll are Ja Morant, Kevin Durant, Zion Williamson and Devin Booker. Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Davis and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also received votes.